Reborn My Husband's 'Therapy' With His First Love Was a Lie

The tenth time I saw my husband wrapped around his childhood sweetheart, something inside my skull detonated.

Images flooded in like a film on fast-forward, every frame searing through my mind. The same scene. The same cloying scent. And Oliver Delgado wearing that same look of blissful devotion.

I tightened my grip on the pregnancy test results in my hand. This time, I didn't bolt with tears burning my eyes.

And I didn't rush forward to slap Oliver across the face.

I had been reborn.

Reborn on my wedding anniversary. The tenth time I'd watched my husband perform his so-called "desensitization therapy" on Mamie Winfield with my own eyes.

In this life, Oliver still climbed out of bed with that same irritated scowl, shrugging on his shirt as he barked at me.

"Bernice, what are you doing lurking in the doorway like that? How am I supposed to help Mamie with her treatment if you're standing there?"

I unclenched my fists, letting the crescent marks in my palms sting, and thrust the pregnancy report at him with a cold smile.

"Oliver Delgado, I'm here to deliver our divorce papers."

"Before we finalize things, just sign this. The baby and I? You can have neither."

——

Mamie immediately sat up from Oliver's arms. Her cheeks were still flushed crimson, and her gaze flicked to me, all timid innocence.

"Bernice, please don't be angry. It's my fault for being so sickly. Oliver only holds me because he feels sorry for me. He's just treating my condition."

Her eyes reddened on cue. She leaned her delicate frame against Oliver's shoulder, then tilted her face just so, making sure I got a full view of the bruised trail of kiss marks down her neck.

In my last life, I'd swallowed it all when I saw this. I believed Mamie's allergies were real, that Oliver was just honoring their childhood bond by helping her.

I endured his nights away from home. I endured watching him murmur sweet reassurances to her.

But in the end, I discovered Mamie's allergy was a lie.

When I tried to expose the truth, she shoved me off the second-floor balcony. I died on impact. So did my baby.

And Oliver? He cradled his terrified Mamie and whispered, "Don't be scared. If anything comes of this, I'll sign a forgiveness statement as her next of kin. I'll protect you."

That tenth time, I'd still walked away clutching my heartbreak, too afraid to interrupt their "treatment."

It wasn't until after I died, when my spirit refused to leave, that I finally saw the messages between Mamie and her doctor:

"I've been taking allergy medication this whole time. Oliver doesn't suspect a thing. Once I've seduced him completely and he can't live without me, that idiot Bernice Barnes will have no choice but to step aside."

Now, all I wanted was to slap her across the face and kick Oliver down a flight of stairs so he could feel what it was like to have every bone in his body shatter.

And what I wanted, I did.

I walked straight up to Mamie and cracked my palm across her face so hard that five finger-shaped welts bloomed on her cheek.

"Going to put on a show again? Trust me, you were a much better actress in my dreams."

They both froze on the bed. In every past life, I'd been the one who turned scarlet and fled in a blind panic.

Three seconds passed. Then Oliver's roar hit me like a shockwave.

"Bernice Barnes, have you lost your mind? Mamie is a patient! How could you hit her?"

"What dreams? Are you having another one of your episodes? What kind of delusional nonsense is this?"

I smiled, rolling my wrist. Collecting a little interest on what I was owed felt surprisingly good.

"Hit her? She's openly seducing my husband and plotting to kill me and my child. You're telling me she doesn't deserve it?"

Oliver's expression darkened, as though he'd just heard the most absurd joke of his life.

"Are you throwing another jealous tantrum? I'm just helping Mamie with a medical procedure. 'Seducing'? Do you hear how ugly that sounds?"

Mamie chimed in with a pitiful, tear-choked whimper.

"Bernice, I know you've never liked me, but you can't just make up horrible accusations. Is Oliver wrong for being kind enough to treat my condition?"

I turned my cold smile on Mamie and seized her arm.

"Mamie Winfield, aren't you supposed to be allergic to men? One touch from a man and you break out in hives, can't breathe, go into anaphylactic shock?"